While Switzerland's Swiss Socialist Party and various politicians on the Left warned of damage to Switzerland's humanitarian reputation and got enough signatures opposing the new laws to force a referendum, they lost badly at the polls.

Switzerland's restrictions on asylum seekers and non-European workers are now some of the toughest in the West.

All asylum seekers will now be required to have a valid passport, and the new law denies financial assistance to failed asylum-seekers and threatens them with longer periods of detention if they refuse to leave.

Voters also approved policy showing clear preferences for job seekers from the European Union, and from non-EU Switzerland's allies within the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), as opposed to those from outside the two blocs.

The latter will only be accepted if they have special skills the country needs and get a special dispensation..which means that in Switzerland's case, very few will be accepted at all.

In the same referendum, Swiss voters rejected an attempt by center-left parties to essentially create a `hidden tax' on Swiss workers by redirecting part of the Swiss central bank's profit to the public welfare system.

This trend will definitely continue, as the nations of Europe attempt to reclaim their countries.